"But they still have a hostage in their hands, what should we do?"
The soldier answered him hesitantly.
"Phew... fire along the water around them, but don't hurt the hostages..."
Upon hearing that there was still a hostage on board, Drake breathed a sigh of relief and then gave orders to his men.
"Yes!!"
Bang bang bang...
Soon, dozens of cannonballs struck around their ships, but none of them were aimed at them. Instead, they seemed like a farewell salute, bidding them a happy departure from the Iron Fortress.
"Everyone, stop standing there! Hurry up, raise the sails, and get inside the cabin and take control of the helm."
Nami was directing them on the ship, and soon, amidst the chaos of the group, the Going Merry headed towards the fortress exit.
Meanwhile, the Marines had also discovered that Nami, dressed as a nurse, was actually an imposter and a member of the Straw Hat Pirates, so they sped off and gave chase.
"Hmm, very good, now all that's missing is Robin..."
Nami watched the Going Merry smoothly on the sea and nodded in satisfaction.
Just then, Robin used her ability to swing back onto the Going Merry like a swing, amidst Sanji's excited shouts, and handed the blueprints to Nami.
"I got this from the Navy, it should be very useful to you, Miss Navigator..."
Robin handed the blueprints to Nami and said...
"Wow... this is... the blueprints for this fortress! This is wonderful! Robin -neechan is truly my confidante!!"
After Nami unfolded the blueprints, she looked at Navarone's layout on them, then looked at Robin and said excitedly.
"Hmm... is that so?"
Robin felt a little uncomfortable under Nami's gaze, and smiled as she spoke.
"Alright, Luffy, everyone, we're leaving this fortress now. Stay alert, don't let your guard down at this last step."
After reviewing the blueprints of the fortress, Nami stood up and gave instructions and reminders to everyone.
"Oh!!"
Everyone echoed, but only Luffy responded weakly and listlessly.
"Before that, let's eat. Sanji, I'm starving, let's eat..."
Luffy only gets excited when food is mentioned.
"Okay, I got it. I'll go see what ingredients we can use."
Sanji turned and walked into the storage room. A moment later, he rushed out and addressed the crowd.
"This is bad! The Navy has seized and taken away all the food in the ship's hold. There's almost nothing left to eat..."
Sanji's anxious voice rang out.
Snap!!
"I knew it, those navy sailors wouldn't leave anything for us..."
Nami slapped her forehead and said with a headache.
"Hmm, wait a minute, if even the food in the storage room has been seized, then what about the food on the ship..."
Nami had barely finished speaking when she suddenly realized that if even the ingredients were confiscated, would her gold (yes, in Nami's view, all the gold was hers) possibly be spared?
Then she rushed into the cabin to see if it was really as she thought.
"It's terrible, everyone! The gold we left on the ship has been confiscated by the navy!!"
Not long after she went in, she saw Nami running out in a panic, shouting to the others.
"What?! No way, even gold has been..."
Usopp and the others slammed their hands on the table, stood up, and shouted.
"Tch, I knew it. If even the ingredients were seized, how could the gold on the ship escape? Isn't that perfectly normal?"
Zoro leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and spoke his thoughts.
"So what should we do now? Should we turn back?"
Chopper asked.
"Yes, turn around immediately, we need to get our gold back..."
Nami nodded firmly.
"Hey, Nami, you're not kidding, are you? We just escaped from that terrifying fortress, are we really going to go back and die?"
Usopp spoke his mind, revealing that he had no intention of ever returning to that terrifying fortress.
"Oh, in that case, what about the gold? What should we do with the gold? Are we going to give up the gold we went through so much trouble to get from the Sky Island?"
Nami kept asking them questions, trying to persuade everyone to turn the ship around and go back there.
"Hey, Luffy, do you think so too? We're pirates, you know! How can we just abandon our treasure...?"
Knowing that most people on the ship disagreed with going back to retrieve their gold,
Nami then turned her gaze to Luffy, trying to persuade him to bring everyone back to their senses.
"Hmm, but... going back there would be very dangerous. That Fortress Uncle might have already set a trap for us."
Luffy sipped his tea, speaking with some hesitation.
"Phew... Really? That's such a pity. I was planning to wait until we got our hands on this gold before distributing it."
Since none of you are willing to go back and retrieve them, then forget it!
Nami knew she couldn't convince everyone with that reason.
He then changed his tone, spread his arms, and put on a regretful expression as he spoke to them.
Oh, really?
When Nami mentioned wanting to divide the treasure, everyone's interest was piqued, and they all asked her questions.
"Of course, but if you don't get them back, then you'll have nothing..."
Nami continued to tempt them with her words.
"Okay, it's decided. We're pirates, after all, how can we just abandon this treasure?"
"Turn back immediately and retrieve this treasure."
Upon learning that Nami would be sharing the treasure with everyone, Luffy immediately decided to return to the fortress to retrieve what was rightfully theirs.
"Next, everyone listen to me first. We need to find a place to hide the Going Merry before we go looking for the treasure."
Usopp's words interrupted the others' thoughts, bringing them back to their senses. They checked the fortress map and then looked for a place to dock the Going Merry.
"This fortress used to have many warships, but that number has been reduced due to military budget cuts."
Robin then began to speak.
"Hey Robin, you're right, but what does that have to do with the place we're looking for where to dock our ships?!"
Usopp asked, "Although Robin described the current state of the fortress, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with what we're thinking."
"I understand, Robin. You mean, although the original ships are no longer here, there are still many ports where they can dock, right?!"
Upon hearing Robin's words, Nami realized that the ports where those ships could dock were still there.
"That's right, that's what I'm talking about. Although those ships are gone, the port is still there."
Moreover, it had been abandoned by the navy, which conveniently provided an opportunity for our ships to dock.
This used to be a bustling port; we can dock our ships here!
Robin nodded, then walked over to Usopp, pointed to a spot on the map, and explained to them.
"Okay, great. Let's dock the ship here then. Everyone, finish your meal and get moving. We need to get back while those sailors aren't looking..."
Nami looked happily at the spot Robin pointed to, then stood up, glanced at the others, and spoke.
"Oh!!"
The crowd echoed in agreement.
Then he piloted the Going Merry back to the fortress base.